Recommended Books for 2007 NatCon
For this weekend’s NatCon attendees—and beyond—here are some books we recommend you get your hands on (and take home with you—after you properly pay for them!) between sessions at the amazing Desiring God Conference Bookstore:
New Books (2007 Publications)
Stephen Nichols’ For Us and For Our Salvation. We reviewed this book on the blog yesterday. It’s short and it’s packed with solid early-church and Christological content. This is one of our top recommendations for this year’s conference.
Jerry Bridges’ and Bob Bevington’s The Great Exchange. The foreword by Sinclair Ferguson is worth the price of the book—especially at the conference’s reduced price! Ferguson writes, “More than thirty years ago in his landmark book Knowing God, J. I. Packer noted, ‘If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father.’ I would add today: ‘If you want to judge how well a person understands the gospel, ask him what he makes of the death of Christ, and what the message of the cross is.’” The Great Exchange is all about the message of the cross—chapter after chapter after chapter.
Wayne Grudem’s recast Systematic Theology now is easier to read—not content-wise but physically. Bigger margins, larger print, words further away from the binding. But make sure to keep your old copy on hand so that you can reference the original section F1 of chapter 49!
Mark Dever’s The Gospel and Personal Evangelism. Mark Dever knows personal evangelism. And Mark Dever knows the gospel. He’s as good a guide as any other on this essential topic.
Mark Dever’s What Is a Healthy Church? Another Dever title. He’s been doing his share of writing these last couple years. And we’re thankful. This is a nice little primer on the church. So small and yet so helpful. A great buy and great read.
Don Carson’s A Model of Christian Maturity (originally 1984, republished this year). Anything Carson writes is worth reading. And rereading. His forthcoming chapter on love in The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World is incredibly illumining. But in the meantime, give this recent republication a try, as well as classics The Cross and Christian Ministry or the revised How Long O Lord? In short, just read anything Carson. Note: The Conference Bookstore has a special sale on Carson’s The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God and Love in Hard Places.
Piper’s Battling Unbelief. It’s just the practical chapters from Future Grace, right? Hmm, yes and no. It did start with Future Grace’s eight application chapters, but Pastor John has added some significant and helpful clarifiers and updates and also written a new Introduction and Conclusion to help the reader get the concept of living by faith in future grace right—one of Piper’s most misinterpreted concepts. We have a special rate on this at the conference this weekend.
Older Books (Pre-2007 Publications)
The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges. Get this book to have a published copy of this beautiful Horatius Bonar quote and then read the whole book. Excellent. Here’s Bonar: “The secret of a believer’s holy walk is his continual recurrence to the blood of the Surety, and his daily [communion] with a crucified and risen Lord. All divine life, and all precious fruits of it, pardon, peace, and holiness, spring from the cross. All fancied sanctification which does not arise wholly from the blood of the cross is nothing better than Pharisaism. If we would be holy, we must get to the cross, and dwell there; else, notwithstanding all our labour, diligence, fasting, praying and good works, we shall be yet void of real sanctification, destitute of those humble, gracious tempers which accompany a clear view of the cross.”
Prayer and the Knowledge of God by Graeme Goldsworthy. What a sweet convergence of prayer and biblical theology! With, of course, an Aussie flavor. Sure up your redemptive history and get help on your prayer life at the same time.
Salvation Belongs to the Lord by John Frame. This is a whole systematic theology in paperback, in about 350 pages, by one of the best theologians of our day. If you don’t know Frame, please get to know him. If you already know Frame, you’ll know what a helpful book this is. Great for referencing. Even greater for reading straight through.
God’s Big Picture by Vaugh Roberts. This is almost like a shortened version of Goldworthy’s According to Plan. Well tailored for small groups and discipleship.
Piper Titles: At the Lowest Prices Anywhere
The Pleasures of God is making a comeback. New Attitude asked John to speak twice on this theme this past May (available here and here), and the Desiring God Regional Conference in Sacramento is slated for this theme two weeks from now. Most Piper readers who have read Pleasures at least call it their second favorite Piper title—if not first. If you haven’t read Pleasures, now is the time.
God Is the Gospel. The more we work with John, the more convinced we are of the significance of this book in giving a essential angle on the heart of Christian Hedonism. This book is ideal for small groups and life-on-life discipleship.
What Jesus Demands from the World. This is one of the most important books John has written. And it is very well suited to be read slowly over time without the need for setting aside large blocks of time to read. Yes, the book is long, but it has fifty chapters which are short and very readable in one sitting—good for reading one per day. And the Lord may be pleased to impart to you a deeper love for the Gospels and the words of Jesus than you’ve ever had through reading this book. That’s what’s happened for many of us.
Also, this weekend we have scores of titles from MacArthur, Alcorn, Bridges, and Helen Roseveare. Bookstore director Matt Lund says to all conference goers, “Supplies are limited; shop early for best selection.”